The term smartcard refers generally to any pocket-sized card that has one or more integrated circuits embedded therein. Examples of common smartcard applications include payment cards, access cards, and the like.
The contact pad is the designated surface area of the smartcard that permits electrical contact to be made with an external device. Where the smartcard contains sensitive data, such as in the case of payment cards and the like, a secure element is used to store the data. A secure element is a tamper-proof chip that provides a secure memory and execution environment in which application code and application data can be securely stored and administered. The secure element ensures that access to the data stored on the card is provided only when authorised. In conventional smartcards, the secure element is mounted to the back of the contact pad such that the contact pad and secure element form a single unit. The combined unit, including both a contact pad and a secure element, is often referred to as a contact module.
Recent developments in smartcards technology have allowed for the incorporation of biometric sensors, such as fingerprint sensors, into smartcards to provide improved security. The biometric sensor reads detected biometric data and supplies this to a microcontroller for user verification, and once verified the microcontroller instructs or allows the secure element to communicate with a payment terminal or the like through the contact pad. This requires the biometric module to communicate directly with the secure element. However, the secure element in a conventional contact module is fully enclosed and there is no easy way of interacting.
Thus, where the smartcard includes additional security measures, such as the biometric authentication described above, it has been found to be advantageous to configure the contact pad and secure element separately within the smartcard, i.e. such that each component occupies its own “real estate” on the circuit board of the smartcard. This arrangement permits simpler control of the secure element by a biometric authentication module. For example, in low security applications, a simple switch controlled by the biometric authentication module can be provided between the secure element and the contact pad to permit or disable communication. However, this configuration also gives rise to manufacturing difficulties.